


Now What? by Tiger Moon

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-06-11
Updated: 1999-06-11
Packaged: 2017-12-11 11:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/798451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>by Tiger Moon</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now What? by Tiger Moon

**Author's Note:**

> This is the third story in my getting together of the boys series. Blair is finally

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## Now What?

By [Tiger Moon](mailto:)  


Author's homepage: <http://members.aol.com/ATigerMoon/fic.html>

Sequel to Obfuscations, Morning After and Simon's View. 

Disclaimer: Jim, Blair and the rest of the Sentinel Crew belong to Pet Fly and Paramount. I'm not going to make any money off this so don't bother suing me. 

Tiger notes: This is the third story in my getting together of the boys series. Blair is finally talking to me but he's needed a lot of conjoling to get this story out, which is why it's taken forever. 

Warning: Nope, not unless you count sex as needing a warning and as it turns out there really isn't a whole lot of it. 

* * *

<same day 10 p.m.>  
  

Blair hefted his backpack onto his shoulder and headed toward the building and the loft.  He was glad to be home, it had been along day.  Of course he'd been smiling all day.  He couldn't help it.  He was happy, dead tired, but happy.  Not even Simon's ill temper at the meeting twelve hours earlier, or the dressing down from his dissertation from the committee, or the fact that he'd been roped into teaching a late lab for another TA who'd called in sick, could ruin his mood.  Even now as he walked up the three flights of stairs, he was still happy. 

He knew that he and Jim would have to talk, they couldn't go through a major change in their relationship like this and not talk.  Blair snorted, _yeah, right. Jim Ellison a communicator?  Not likely._ He figured he'd have to practice his Jimspeak and see if he could decipher what his Blessed Protector was trying to say.  Jim was nothing if not a master at saying something totally benign but meaning something very important.  Blair was not blind to the fact that this had been Jim's game all along, the seduction and teasing Jim had put him through this past week proved that. 

Climbing the steps, he was unsure of what he was going to do, or how he was going to act, or react, when he saw Jim tonight.  They had made love this morning, he and his best friend had made love, just the sheer acknowledgement of that was enough to rock his world when he let himself think about it.  And think about it he did.  Every time he got a chance, which was why he was still flying high tonight and why he was apprehensive about how to react when he walked through the door.  The funny thing was, there had been none of the morning after awkwardness this morning, they were just the same old Jim and Blair vying for who got the shower first.  But what about now, tonight, after having all day to think?   It felt awkward now, or was he just feeling awkward because he didn't know what to do now?  Of course, he could just follow Jim's lead and let the sentinel be the guide for once. 

Walking through the door, he wasted no time in pitching his keys in the basket, dropping his backpack and shucking off his jacket, just barely catching the hook to keep his jacket from falling to the floor.  It was a daily ritual for both of them really, you weren't home until the keys were in the basket and the coat was on the hook. 

"Hey, Chief." Jim called from the kitchen.  "I heard you coming and figured you'd be hungry. I'm heating up the leftover Thai, sit down and it'll be ready in a minute." 

"Great, thanks, I'm starving." Blair was to hungry to protest so he did as he was instructed and waited for the food he was smelling to be ready.  Jim knew him to well and he knew that he hadn't eaten with his busy schedule. 

"Here you go." Jim waited for Blair to move to one side so he could put the plate down.  Very gently, he tipped his guide's head up and touched his lips to Blair's in a chaste kiss, "Welcome home, Blair." 

Blair sighed as Jim's lips left his, "Oh man, that, is exactly what I needed." Yeah, now he knew what to do and where they were going, "Hey, come back." He reached out to pull Jim closer, but the bigger man skirted out of his reach. 

"Eat first," Jim instructed as he grabbed his beer and went to sit on the sofa, stopping at the stereo first to pop a soft jazz CD, setting it to loop endlessly. 

Blair looked at him, he was both disappointed and relieved.  Disappointed that he had to wait to get another kiss, or more, and relieved, that this morning wasn't some aberration that he'd dreamed up.  Grabbing the chopsticks, he picked at the warm Larb-kai that Jim had placed in front of him.  They talked about their respective days while Blair ate. Between bites and bits of conversation, Blair watched Jim as he sat non-challently on the sofa, watching him.  He wished he had Jim's senses so he could read Jim's expression in the darkness of the room.  Was his Blessed Protector as calm as he appeared?  He knew his own heart was beating out an erratic rhythm.  What was Jim's doing?  When he finally finished, he pulled back from the table and dumped his plate in the sink. 

"Beer?"  He asked as he went for his own. 

"Yeah, sure I'll take another." Jim replied, not bothering to get up from his place on the sofa. 

Blair grabbed two bottles and went to join Jim on the sofa. 

They sat like they always did on their respective ends of the long sofa until Jim reached out and pulled him closer, settling Blair between his legs and leaning his guide back against his chest.  Jim wrapped his arms around Blair's chest and just held him.  They sat content in each other's embrace, not talking just enjoying the feeling of just being in each other's arms, and listening to the soft jazz, the piano and soulful sax filled the empty places of the apartment.  Jim occasionally took sips of his beer and absently caressed Blair's hip. 

Blair began to feel the wear of the day, the gentle in and out of Jim's breathing and the heart he could feel pounding against his back lulled him into a very relaxed state.  Jim slipped the still half full bottle from his partner's grasp before it could fall to the floor as Blair snuggled deeper into Jim's embrace. 

"Tired?" Jim asked. 

"Yeah, I guess I am." Blair's voice was thick with sleep. 

"Let's go to bed." Jim suggested. 

"I guess we should."  Blair nodded, not really wanting to leave the warmth he was cocooned in.  It took great effort on his part to leave the comfort of the arms that held him and head off to the bathroom for his nightly rituals. 

Jim sat there for a moment, suddenly feeling alone and empty, then began to move about the loft locking up for the night.  He and Blair traded places in the bathroom and when he came out he found Blair hovering between the steps to Jim's room and his own, unsure where to go.  "Come on Chief, let's go to bed." Jim suggested placing his hand on the small of Blair's back and guiding him up the stairs. 

Blair stopped once they reached the top of the stairs, _Oh Man,_ he thought, _what are we doing?_   Falling into bed last night with Jim had been about passion and desires being fulfilled, tonight though, tonight going to bed with Jim was something totally different.  He watched Jim being utterly cool, stripping off his clothes and crawling into bed. 

Propelled by Jim holding the covers aside for him and calling, "Blair..." his voice husky, "Come to bed."  He gave in, stripping off his tank and boxers he crawled into bed.  No sooner did he hit the sheets was he pulled against Jim's solid warmth, feeling the comfort he had downstairs return. 

"You okay?" Jim asked, as he got the younger man curled up against him.  His head resting on his shoulder and Blair's leg thrown over his own. 

"Yeah," Blair whispered against Jim's chest. 

Jim snorted, "Try telling that to some one who can't hear how fast your heart is beating."  He started to run his hand gently up and down Blair's back and neck. Easing the sudden tightness he felt. 

Blair raised his head up, resting his chin on Jim's chest, and looked into the clear blue eyes of his partner, he knew Jim would be able to sense what he was feeling, maybe even better than he could try and explain.  He was feeling so much, nervousness, excitement, and fear... 

"Nervous?" Jim asked quietly, seeing Blair's expression. 

"Scared's more like it."  Blair admitted, ducking his head down, his hair falling forward, hiding his face. 

Jim reached up and pushed the hair back, allowing him to see Blair's face, "Me too," he admitted, "We're taking a big step here." He knew he didn't do relationships very well, his own failed marriage was proof of that.  He couldn't even lay all the blame at Carolyn's feet, he knew he'd been an SOB to live with at that point in his life. 

"Yeah," Blair whispered, laying his head back down on Jim's chest, listening to his partner's strong  heartbeat. 

Jim drew lazy circles on Blair's back, moving up to play with the long curly strands of hair that lay on his chest.  His normally confident guide was hesitant and unsure.  He could relate to those feelings himself. 

"Jim?" Blair spoke a while later. 

"Yeah Chief." 

"How do we do this?  I mean us.  Are we going to be okay? I mean, we are adding this whole new element to our friendship.  We have so much to decide.  And so much to potentially lose.  I mean, do we come out to our friends?  And what about safe sex? Although we did kind of blow that one this morning."  Blair had so much going on in his head, he didn't know where to begin and he tripped over the words as the questions came spilling out. 

Jim pulled Blair down and kissed him.  It was the only thing he could think of to do to stop the flow of words tripping over themselves as they came rushing from Blair's mouth.  When he felt his guide relax he ended the kiss and reassured Blair, "Easy, Darwin.  Why don't we just take it one day at a time and get used to this first?" 

"We did kind of rush it last night, didn't we?"  Blair blushed. 

"I'm not complaining, Chief."  Jim was rewarded with a bright smile from the man who lounged on his chest. 

Blair moved and repositioned himself on Jim's chest before leaning to kiss him, relishing in the feel of the man under him, the hard muscles that could yield such tenderness, the hands that caressed his back so softly.  Even more so than the wild passion that had over came them last night and this morning, this is what Blair craved.  The tenderness, it surprised him coming from the man who was always so stoic using actions to say what he couldn't with words. 

Jim broke the kiss and held Blair against his chest for a moment, "How about if we slow down and do it right this time?" 

Blair understood what he was trying to say, slowing down would give them a chance to answer all the questions he'd asked earlier.  Slowing down would give them both a chance to get use to the fact that there was now an "us" instead of a, "him and I".  "Yeah...but Jim, can we still do this?"  Blair asked grinning as he motioned to the position that they were currently in and the kiss they had just shared. 

He felt Jim's answer as the chuckle vibrated through Jim's body, "Oh yeah...We can definitely still do this.  But let's take the rest slow. Okay?" 

Blair just nodded, glad that they had at least agreed on a direction to go in, and even more so when Jim reached up and twined his hands through his hair and pulled him down for another kiss.  He loved the way Jim kissed.  Blair was even happier when Jim rolled them so that he was under Jim and could run his hands along Jim's body.  But it was his undoing when Jim broke the kiss and laid his head on Blair's shoulder.  Blair had been so caught up in his own fears, that he never wondered about what Jim was feeling, and hadn't put much thought into it.  This small action showed him more than words ever could.  It told him that Jim had been as nervous as himself.  But that Jim couldn't show it because he had to show his guide where they were going next, since he'd started the cycle that had ended up with them bed in the first place.  Now Jim didn't have to lead, or guide them.  They could do it together for the rest of their journey. 

Blair's last thought before he drifted off to sleep, Jim's head still on his shoulder, was that he could get use to this real fast. 

* * *

End Now What?.

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